


Take Me To Church (Frerard)

by PierceTheAllTimeBlackParade



Category: MCR - Fandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Gay, M/M, WARNING: homophobia is later chapters, cowritten, priest!Gerard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2018-10-10 01:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 12,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10426041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PierceTheAllTimeBlackParade/pseuds/PierceTheAllTimeBlackParade
Summary: Frank's mom forced him to go back to church with her. It's not that Frank hates the church, he just doesn't like going. But he gets different views on the new, young, and very attractive priest when he discovers a thing or two about this him that no one else knows. If anyone else finds out about this, it could make the priest lose his job. And Frank may or may not be one of those things that could make that happen...





	1. Chapter 1

Frank groaned as his mother pulled him toward the church. "Mom, do I have to go?" he whined as his mother stopped and adjusted his tie.

"Yes, you must go. It's important to me that you go to church." his mom said, pulling her hands back as he swatted at them. Linda, his mother, sighed before retrieving his wrist and literally dragging him to the church.

Frank would have used all of his willpower to not even step foot in the church, but he didn't have any money for his own apartment, and since he still lives with his mom, he has to do what she wants. And since she still goes to church, he has to go to the church. It's not that he hates church, he just doesn't enjoy going, but he's forced to go, and he can't go to the children's church or anything fun like that anymore.

"Come along Frankie." Linda said, pulling the reluctant boy into the building.

"Mom." he whined.

"Shut up," Linda scolded, "You'll make a bad example of us even more than you already do, with those- those piercings and- and those tattoos."

Frank frowned at his mother. She was about to cross the line with him, but then the priest, Father Way, appeared next to the two. "Ah, Linda! Thank you for coming back." the man said. Frank looked him over with a frown.

Father Way looked a bit young, in Frank's opinion. And he had ink black hair and vampire-pale skin, and the robes he wore made him look very small. But not as small as Frank. Father Way looked at Frank, the two locking eyes for only mere seconds before the priest looked away.

"And you have brought your son again!" Father Way said, smiling at Linda.

Linda nodded and shot a quick glare toward Frank, "Yes, I managed to get him out of the house again." Father Way simply nodded in response.

"At least he's here," he said, and glanced at Frank. The feeling of being under the man's gaze made Frank feel a little exposed. He managed to get his arm out of his mother's grip and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

***

Before he knew it, Frank was sitting in one of the pews inside the church, beside his mother, and Father Way was up and preaching.

Frank couldn't keep his eyes off of the priest. There was something about him that was drawing the boy to him, but Frank didn't know what it was.

He wasn't paying attention to what the priest was saying, but he was paying attention to his voice. When the priest faced his direction, Frank noticed how Father Way only spoke out of one side of his mouth. How was it that Frank didn't like going to church, yet he was attracted to the guy who ran the place?

This isn't normal, right? Frank bit his lip and looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs. He jolted and looked up when his mom elbowed his side. "Pay attention," she hissed in a whisper in his ear. Frank sighed and looked up at the priest again, but he didn't stay focused for long. He had to force his gaze away from the preaching vampire-looking man, and he resorted to tracing patterns in the carpeting and the cracks that ran down the walls with his eyes.

***

Frank had dozed off a few times, resulting in a stinging pain in his side from Linda elbowing him awake.

When the sermon was over, he stood up and stretched out his legs and started for the door to go back to the car, but his mom grabbed his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" she hissed at him.

"Back to the car..." he replied, pointing to the door. His mom shook her head.

"No. Not yet. We're going to have a talk with Father Way." she said.

"Why?!" Frank asked, glancing at the stream of people leaving the church, "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

Linda shook her head, "No. This is too serious to wait for."

"But mooooooom!" Frank whined. Linda simply ignored his protests and seized his wrist again and pulled him toward the back of the church, where Frank noticed a door with a small sign next to it that read **OFFICE**.

Linda knocked on the door, not yet letting go of Frank's wrist. No one came to the door, and Linda frowned and knocked again. Still no answer.

"Where the hell is he?" Linda muttered, and looked in the little window on the door. She noticed there were no lights on in the office, and no one was in the room.

Frank then noticed robes laying in a heap behind the opened door that lead into the foyer. He raised an eyebrow and looked around while his mom stood staring into the empty office. That was when he saw a mop of black hair leaving the building, and he smiled. _Found him_ , he thought.


	2. Two

Frank followed his mom outside, not really having much of a choice having that his mom was still gripping his wrist. Linda approached a girl Frank had seen a few pews in front of them during the sermon.  
"Lindsey," Linda called. The girl – Lindsey – looked up from her phone.  
"Hi Mrs. Iero!" Lindsey said. Linda released Frank's wrist, finally.

"Have you seen Father Way? I can't find him." Linda said, looking desperate.

Lindsey shook her head. "Haven't seen him. But, if I know him as well as I think I do, he's probably out back smoking again," Lindsey sighed and shook her head, "We keep telling him to stop, that it'll cut his years down more, and ruin his features. He just won't listen. Even his boss said for him to stop, that it'll ruin everything for him. That it's 'not right for a Father to be smoking those death-sticks.'"

Frank couldn't help but scoff; he himself smokes and nothing has happened. His immune system is shitty, yes, but it's not because of smoking. He was just born that way.

Linda sighed again, "Okay. Alright." Frank looked at his mother as she just jumped into conversation with Lindsey. After a moment, Frank took the chance and ran off. He ran to the back of the church, and didn't see anyone else there, so he was alone. He leaned back against the old building, and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. He flicked it on, to make sure it still worked; he had a thing for losing or breaking everything, like his lighters, his cigarette packs, his relationship with his mom...

He reached into his pocket again, for his cigarettes, but felt nothing.

"The fuck..." he muttered, then felt in his other pockets. Nothing. "Shit." he said to himself.

"Shut up you dork!" someone said, laughter in their voice. Frank heard more laughter and talking. He looked up and frowned. He was positive he hadn't seen anyone else around.

Then he saw the dark red pickup truck. There were six shadowed figures either on, in, or around the truck. He glanced around before walking toward the truck. When he was close enough, he could make out what the people looked like:

One was slim and lanky. He had dirty blonde hair and fair skin. He had on a dark blue T-shirt, black skinny jeans, and black boots. He had a pair of glasses dangling from the tip of his nose. He was sitting in the driver's seat of the truck.

The next person had a dark 'fro. He had tanner skin than the first man. He had big lips, from which a cigarette dangled from. He had an AC/DC shirt on, and a grey jacket on, along with a pair of jeans. He was leaning against the driver's side door.

Next was a guy with black hair, and very pale skin. His arms were covered in tattoos, and Frank noticed one or two on his neck. The man – or boy, he looked younger than the others – was taking a cigarette out of a pack in his hand. He had a ripped, black muscle shirt with a fading Batman logo on, and tight, ripped skinny jeans, with a studded belt, and a black and white bandana wrapped around his head. He was sitting on the top of the wall, bed thing on the back of the truck.

Next came a girl. She had short, jaw-length bright turquoise blue hair, with green streaks here and there. She had fair skin, and a few tattoos, but not many. She had on a pair of aviators sunglasses, and a green tank top, ripped up boyfriend jeans, and American flag high tops. She wasn't smoking. She was standing in the truck bed, leaning over the roof of the vehicle.

Standing beside the girl was another girl, with split-dyed blue and dark purple hair. She had child-like tattoos all over her arms. She had a cigarette held between her fingers. She was wearing a soft, baby pink crop-top, a fuzzy purple cropped jacket, and a poofy green skirt.

Finally was a mystery to Frank. The person was a man. He was sitting cross-legged on the roof of the truck. He had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He had a grey jacket on, the hood up, hiding his hair. He had a pair of ripped jeans on, along with a pair of black Converse high tops. He had a pair of sunglasses hiding his eyes.

Frank cleared his throat then approached the group. When he reached a few feet from the truck, he spoke up; "Hello?"  
The girl with turquoise hair lifted her Aviators and squinted. "We have a visitor!" she said, smirking. Everyone turned their attention toward Frank, and he swallowed hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suspicious...
> 
> Who do you think the mystery people are?


	3. Chapter Three

The girl climbed up onto the roof of the truck and nudged the mystery man, who turned to her and took off his sunglasses. Frank couldn't really make out the face or eyes from where the guy had turned. The girl whispered something to the man, who nodded. The man climbed off the roof of the truck and said, "Everyone! We have a guest." The voice sounded familiar to Frank... almost like—

"Hi," said the girl with split dyed hair. Frank looked up and the girl was standing right in front of him. She was smiling at him, baring her teeth. She had a gap between her two front teeth, Frank noticed— How _couldn't_ he notice?

The girl cocked her head, "Aren't you gonna say 'hi' back? Can you talk?"

Frank blinked, then realized he hadn't said anything, "H- Hi,"

The girl grinned again, "I'm Melanie," she pointed at herself, then she pointed at the girl with the aviators and blue hair, "That's Hayley!"

The blue haired girl — Frank now knows her as Hayley — waved, "Hey," She waved the rest of the group over. The others then came over and crowded around Frank.

"Look how tiny he is!" one of them exclaimed, "He's a Hobbit!" The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Frank... Almost like—

"Shut it, Gee," Hayley hissed, interrupting Frank's thoughts. "He, me, and Mel are almost the same height!"

"Umm..." Frank said, bringing back everyone's attention.

"Oh! Right. We were doing introductions," Hayley said, laughing at her own lost train of thought. She gestured toward the guy who had the bandana, "This is Andy," – She gestured toward the guy with the fro – "Ray," – she gestured toward the twig-like guy with the glasses – "Mikey," – and finally, she reached the guy wearing the hoodie and sunglasses – "And this is the Aunt Margaret of the bunch, Gerard! Also known as F–"

The guy cut her off. _Rude_. But, Frank's internal ranting got cut short as _Gerard_ started speaking.

"Gee. I'm also known as Gee," he said. He held out a hand, fingers splayed out. His pinky, Frank noticed, went out farther than the others. Frank hesitated before putting out his own hand and shaking Gee's. His hands were warm...

"So," Melanie chimed in, "What's your name, stranger?"

Frank tore his gaze and hand away from Gerard's hand, "What?"

"What's your name? You're new to the church too," Melanie said.

"O- oh! I'm Frank Iero," Frank replied, "How do you know I'm new?"

"We've never seen you here before," Andy answered.

 _Goddamn_ , Frank thought in surprise at hearing Andy's voice, _his voice is doesn't suit him._

"Oh. Well... yeah. I guess you could say I'm new. My mom wanted me out of the house," Frank explained, "All because I'm 'not holy' or some shit."

The others started laughing. Frank decided he like these people. And he had completely forgotten about the cigarette he initially was going to ask them for.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NEW FRIENDS

The day Frank had met his new friends they had all given him their numbers, and he had given them his. He had just been expecting simple hellos and then nothing much beyond that. What he wasn't expecting was to wake up at four in the morning that Thursday with unknown numbers flashing on his phone.

_Unknown number: Come on petey its not a bad dick  
Unknown number: let's be real_

What the fuck? was the only thought that went through Frank's head at that moment. He unlocked his phone and noticed he had been added to a group chat. When he had checked the contacts in the chat, he saw "yelyah Williams" – Hayley had set her name as that in Frank's phone – "Crybaby Mel" – Melanie – "Mikey," "Fro Power" – Ray – "Andy Black" – Andy – and "Gee Gee" – Gerard – along with a few unknown contacts.

 _Unknown number: how the fuck did you even get those pictures breadbin?!_  
_Unknown number: i have my ways wentz_  
_Crybaby Mel: guys wait until later were probably waking up our new friend_  
Frank: what is going on here???  
yelyeah Williams: sorry for the disturbance Frank. Brendon and Pete just got excited  
Andy Black: go the fuck to sleep  
Gee Gee: Children, don't you fucking dare make me go find a copy of that book Go The Fuck To Sleep that Samuel L. Jackson narrated  
Mikey: good early morning to you too insomniac brother of mine  
Fro Toro: guys im trying to sleep  
Gee Gee: why is everyone else awake?  
yelyah Williams: I was adding our new child into the chat then brendon and pete decided to talk about petes dickpic again  
Frank: can you all go back to sleep some of us need it to operate throughout the day  
Crybaby Mel: guys hush up ur gonna wake up ash and pattycakes  
Unknown number: who tf wakes up at  
Unknown number: 4;27 in the mornjng  
Crybaby Mel: morning sunshine  
Unknown number: fuck off melanie  
Unknown number: getting feisty now are we kids??  
Crybaby Mel: fuck off breadbin urine

Frank was having trouble keeping track of who was who with these new, unknown numbers. And it didn't help that he was still half asleep. Seriously! Who wakes up at four in the morning acting as if it's the best thing on the planet? He quickly messaged that chat again:

_Frank: Who tf wakes up at 4am?_

He didn't have to wait long for replies.

 _Unknown number: i do actually since my mom is picking me up at fuckin 5am so i have to hyp up on red bull_  
_Unknown number: i have insomnia_  
_Gee Gee: same peter_  
yelyah Williams: I just got home from a concert  
Crybaby Mel: I was with her  
Unknown number: Okay I'm mad now go tf to sleep we can talk later and don't you have a tea party or some shit later Melanie?  
Crybaby Mel: shit u right  
Crybaby Mel: but I'm not sleepy pattyyyyyyyyyy

Frank sighed. He was _never_ going to go back to sleep now, was he? He was sure that his new friends, and whoever in the blue fuck these people were, were going to jack his sleep schedule.

_Frank: who the fuck are these unknown numbers? I know Melanie, Hayley, Mikey, Ray, Andy, and Gerard.  
Unknown number: Hello hello!!!! I'm Pete your frendlu naivhourhood meme dealer_

Frank added Pete into his phone as "Meme Dealer."

 _Unknown number: hi! excited to meet you! I'm Patrick! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ_  
_Frank: OHMYGODHISEMOJISAREADORABLE_  
_Crybaby Mel: IKNOWRIGHT_  
Meme Dealer: Patricks whole existence is adorable  
Gee Gee: Patrick is a walking talking breathing teddy bear he's too pure for this chat  
Frank: ICANSEETHAT

Frank quickly added Patrick into his phone as "Patrick the Teddy Bear."

 _Unknown number: Welcome child. I am Satan. Bow down to me._  
_Meme Dealer: fuck off brendon Mel said they found this kid outside a church he must be holy_  
_Frank: im not holy_  
Unknown number: HES MY CHILD NOW I CALL DIBS  
Frank: fuck off brendon

Frank added Brendon into his phone as "most likely a satanist."

This will be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for only parts of the chats being in italics. It won't let me italicize part of it. *sighs and flops onto my bed* WHYYYYY


	5. Chapter Five

It was a few weeks to a month later... Frank tossed and turned in bed, most likely having a nightmare.

"Hey, hey! Frank!"

The familiar voice woke him up. He woke up gasping. "Oh my God. Wha– Where–" Frank started, but the voice interrupted him.

"You fell asleep during the sermon."

Frank looked up and saw Father Way. And then he looked down and saw he wasn't in bed– he was sitting in a pew... And Frank didn't remember even going to the church. It wasn't Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday! What was going on?

"Before you go to your mom, could you help me with something," Father Way asked. "It'll be quick, I promise."

Frank nodded his agreement and got up off the pew. He followed Father Way toward the back of the church. Father Way unlocked his office door and gestured for Frank to enter. Frank entered the small room, and then he heard the door shut and the click of a lock. He whipped around and saw Father Way leaning against the door.

"Uh- Umm.." Frank stuttered, suddenly feeling nervous. Father Way started to walk toward him. Like, right toward him. Frank backed up, going back toward the desk. "What- what are you doing?" The Father didn't reply. He just pushed Frank back against the desk and looked him in the eyes. He glanced down at Frank's lips...

Then he slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against Frank's. Frank's eyes fluttered shut and he kissed back. They leaned into each other. Father Way ran his hand down Frank's neck, against his collarbone, and down his chest. Frank's hands were gripping the back of the Father's robes. He felt his shirt being untucked from his pants, and then a cold hand slip under the fabric of his shirt and up his back, making his spine tingle.

Father Way pulled back from the kiss and looked at Frank. "Frank," he said. Frank looked up at him.

"Yes, Father Way?" he asked.

"Frankie, wake up," Father Way said. Frank frowned. "Frank Iero, it's time to wake up!"

Frank jolted awake, his blanket tangled around his legs. The light coming through the window, making his eyes sting. Then a shadow loomed over him.

"FRANK!" a voice said. Frank looked up and saw the face of Brendon Urie. Frank groaned.

"Beebo. It's Saturday! Free day," he said, "Let me sleep."

Brendon shook his head, hair flopping. Another shadow joined his over Frank's body.

"Not gonna happen. We have plans and you're our friend so you're coming with us." This new voice and shadow was Hayley.

Frank sighed and shooed their heads away so he could sit up. He yawned and stretched as Hayley and Brendon got off his bed. He got up out of bed and looked at his friends, "Where are we going today?"

Hayley smirked as Brendon grinned and clapped his hands.

"It's a secret!" he said.

Frank sighed and shook his head. "Okay, okay," he said, then shooed them out of the room, "Let me change then I'll be out." He shut the door behind the two then started to change into jeans and a Misfits shirt. As he changed, all he could think about was his dream, and how much Father Way sounded like Gerard.

What the fuck was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! Short chapter... Sorry for it being so short, the next one SHOULD be longer...


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHARACTER AND A RELATIONSHIP (or two) IS FORMING!

Frank pulled his jacket on as he followed Hayley and Brendon out to Hayley's car, a silver TATA Manza. She unlocked it and gestured with her hands, "Hop in, boys."

Brendon opened the front passenger door and got in. "SHOTGUN!" he shouted excitedly.

Frank smiled and shook his head, getting in to the backseat. Despite his being friends with the group for all these weeks, this was his first time in Hayley's car. 

Hayley walked around to the driver's side and got in. "Everyone buckle up," she said, and Frank and Brendon both obliged. 

The three drove off to where they were meeting the others.

***

Frank looked out the window, seeing a familiar truck and an old-looking car. Hayley pulled the car to a stop and the three got out. 

"What are we doing, exactly?" he asked as he shut the car door.

"We're supposedly having fun," someone said from beside him, "But no one will tell me which definition of fun." Frank turned to see who it was, though he had a guess because of the voice. It was none other than Gerard. 

"Oh. I was just told to get out of bed and get in the car." Frank replied.

"We're doing art!" a boy Frank didn't recognize exclaimed. He was a short boy, a little taller than Frank, with an emo haircut, tattooed arms and chest, and dark eyeliner circling his eyes.

Halsey, Frank had met her at Melanie's house when they had all stayed the day there, stopped digging through the car and moved some of her blue hair out of her eyes. She saw Frank's confused expression and smiled a little. "This is Pete Wentz."

"Oh! Dick pic Pete," Frank nodded.

Pete threw down something, "Is that the only reason people know who I am?!"

A short man with thick, black rimmed glasses and a fedora patted Pete's arm. "No, no. Of course not, Pete," he was saying in a deep, soothing voice, "People know you for other reasons." Frank had met Patrick before, during a visit to Melanie's apartment. Frank had been forced to go by the others for 'initiation'. When he, Mikey, and Andy had gotten to the apartment and had entered, Patrick and Melanie were both seated on the floor around a small plastic table with stuffed animals (and a decapitated teddy bear and it's head) having a tea party.

It had been at that moment Frank realized why the rest of the group thought Melanie and Patrick should date.

Now here Frank was, about to go into a strange building with things in bags, and no one will tell him what those 'things' are.

Frank suddenly felt something wet smack his cheek and he froze up, eyes widening. The wetness just kept coming, then eventually died down. 

"GET OFF MY LAWN PUNK ASS!" Frank heard a girl's voice shout. He looked up and saw a girl with auburn hair and fair skin. She laughed a little, "I was joking about the punk thing. I love your style dude. But seriously, get off my lawn."

***

Frank was seated on the floor of the apartment, Melanie and Patrick to his right, Hayley and Brendon to his left, Pete, Ray, Mikey, Gerard, Halsey and Andy scattered around the outside of the tiny circle. The new girl was walking around the group, a water gun in her hands. 

"Why are we in a circle on the floor?" Frank asked, since sitting on the floor seemed unnecessary having that Mandy has a perfectly functional couch.

"We're summoning Satan," Brendon replied, grinning, "I'm kidding. I'm already here." Hayley smacked him upside the head. 

"So there's a new member to our secret society, I see." the new girl said.

"Yes, Mandy," Pete said.

The girl – Mandy – looked at Frank and smirked, "What's your name, grasshopper?"

Frank rolled his eyes, "Frank."

Mandy grinned and shot at him with her water gun. "WE'RE GONNA PLAY A GAME!" she announced, loudly.

Frank spluttered, surprised at the sudden feeling of water again.

"IS IT THE TITS GAME?!" Brendon shouted, earning another smack upside the head from Hayley.

Melanie, the adorable and 'innocent' bean she is, asked, "What the fuck is a tit?"

Halsey facepalmed and groaned. "Not again, Mandy. This is what scared away our last recruit."

Patrick looked nervous. "Umm...Is this really necessary? I don't really wanna..." he asked, his deep voice soft in a whisper. Melanie looked worried and faced the fedora-wearing man. She took his hand in both her own and asked, "It'll be okay, Patrick. Is there anything I can get you before this happens? The Protection Teddy? The Confidence Pillow?"

"Teddy," Patrick said simply, looking at Melanie hopefully. 

"I'll go get him." Everyone watched as Melanie patted Patrick's fedora-wearing head, kissed his forehead (leaving a dark pink lip-print), and stood up. She patted down her pastel pink tutu, then left the room; Patrick stayed seated on the floor, his face a dark red.

Brendon was the first to speak. "Hey buddy! You got a little..." he pointed toward his own fivehead.

Patrick looked both confused and embarrassed, "What? There's something on my face?"

Hayley shook her head, "No. You've got something on your..."

Frank looked from person to person, feeling bad that everyone else couldn't tell Patrick that Melanie's lipstick was on his forehead. Frank looked to Gerard, hoping he'd tell Patrick.

Mikey and Ray were busy talking to each other, not noticing what was going on. Halsey looked as though she were about to go into mom mode, and Andy was looking through his phone. Mandy had gotten her phone out and she took a picture. Patrick looked very embarrassed and close to tears.

That was when Melanie came back in, dragging a giant purple teddy bear behind her. She got one glance at Patrick's saddened face and freaked out. "No, hunny what's–OOOH... That's- that's my fault."

Patrick looked confused, "What?"

Melanie sat on her knees in front of the man. Everyone watched as she licked her thumb then wiped the lipstick stain off. 

"You all are so immature," she said. "You could've told Patrick that I left a print on him, but no. You laugh. Soooo fucking mature."

When she was done ranting and cleaning Patrick, she smiled. "There."

Patrick blushed, "Th- Thank you, Me–"

"Just kiss already!" Brendon shouted.

Frank stayed silent, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire if Melanie gets mad at Satan– we mean Brendon.

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked instead, to Frank's relief.

"He means how you and Patrick obviously like each other and won't do anything about it," Halsey explained, now paying attention.

"We've all noticed it!" Andy said.

"O- oh..." Patrick and Melanie said at the same time. They looked at each other, both blushing. Patrick looked down at his lap, then saw a purple, fuzzy paw on one of his hands. He looked up again and saw Melanie smiling softly at him, holding the teddy bear out.

Frank smiled and glanced over to Gerard, who was also smiling. Frank knew that this was the start of two of his friends' relationship. And what a fucking adorable relationship it will be.

"Cute!" Mandy squealed, and everyone looked to her, even Mikey and Ray.  Mandy cleared her throat.

"So, are we gonna do the tit thing or not?" Brendon asked, suddenly forgetting about Melanie and Patrick's little moment.

"What's this 'tit thing'?" Melanie asked.

Mandy grinned and cocked her water gun. "The Wet T-Shirt contest."


	7. Chapter Seven

Frank saw Mandy fire her water gun, but he didn't see who the water hit until he heard Patrick gasp. He whipped around to look at Patrick, and saw the darkened area of his shirt spread a little. He grabbed the giant purple stuffed bear from Melanie and used it as a shield in front of himself.

Frank took this chance and grabbed the water gun from Mandy and sprayed it out in front of himself, eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched. He opened his eyes to see who he had sprayed.

_It was Brendon._

Brendon gasped dramatically, "You got me, little Frankie!" He put the back of one of his hands to his 1749927484930head dramatically and flopped backward.

Frank turned his head back to Mandy when he heard her squeal: "A twist in the game!" Then he watched as she ran to a door and knocked on it. "My little drummer boy," she said in a sing-song voice. "I'm gonna need more water guns."

•••

Not much later, everyone was soaked in water from the water guns Mandy's "little drummer boy" — her fiancé, Frank found out from Andy — had supplied them with.

"That was fun," Mandy said as she ended the water-war. "Everyone gather 'round in a circle," she commanded, "I'm going to choose a judge." Everyone gathered around the girl in a circle. She closed her eyes and put her arm out. She spun in a circle for a moment then she stopped when she was facing Frank. She opened her eyes and grinned, "Frank Iero, the newbie."

"Step forward and be the judge, Frankie," Frank heard Halsey say. So Frank stepped forward and looked around at what was left of the circle of friends. He mainly focused on the shirts, having what they were supposed to be doing was having a Wet T-Shirt contest. He stopped on one— one of the boys'. He recognized the shirt from before the contest.

"Gerard."

Frank looked up at the boy, and his eyes widened. Gerard's sunglasses had fallen off and his hoodie was gone. "Oh my God," he said.

_Gerard is Father Way?_


	8. Chapter Eight

Brendon looked at Gerard, "I think he knows now."

"Frankie, look. I'm sorry–" Gerard started but Frank cut him off:

"You've been the _preacher_ this _whole time_?"

"How couldn't you tell?" Pete asked.

"Now isn't the time for your stupid questions _Peter_ ," Halsey said.

"No, that's actually a good question," Andy said, "How _couldn't_ Frank tell that he's friends with the Father?"

"Maybe because he was in a fucking _disguise_?!" Frank snapped.

"Hey, this isn't something to get so fucking _mad_ about," Gerard said, stepping forward.

"It is, actually, because you fucking _lied_ to me!"

"We _didn't_ lie!"

"You _did_!" With that, Frank ran out of the room.

"It wasn't _that good_ of a disguise," Brendon said.

•••

Frank had sprinted home from the short-cut meeting. He could not believe that Ger– _Father Way_ and the group had lied to him.

His mother had been in the kitchen washing dishes when he got home and she heard the door slam and knew who it was. "Back so soon?" she asked, going to the doorway of the kitchen. He looked at her.

"They lied to me," he said.

"Who lied to you? Your friends?" Linda asked. Frank nodded. "They didn't lie to you," Linda said.

"How do you know?" Frank asked.

"Because, I'm a grown up. I know these things," his mother said, "It's an instinct we gain when we have kids." Frank sighed at her.

"Now, what exactly happened?" Linda asked, going over to the coffee maker. This was one of the few things she and Frank did together where they would not argue.

Frank sighed again and sat at the kitchen island. "I didn't notice that Gerard is Father Way immediately. He had covered his hair and eyes when I met him out of church!"

"Father Way is different from the rest of the ministers, Frankie. Everyone knows this," Linda said then turned back around with two mugs of coffee, one a 'Dracula' themed mug and the other a flowery print mug. "What made you think they were lying?" She asked, sitting beside her son at the island.

Frank took a sip of the coffee his mother had handed him. "No one told me they were the same person," he whispered, a little embarrassed. Linda put a hand on her son's arm.

"It's okay, honey," she said, "Its nothing to get embarrassed or angry over!"

Frank sighed and leaned against his mother. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Are the others who they claim to be?" she asked.

Frank nodded, "Patrick and Melanie are literally these angels of purity and innocence, Halsey is like a mom..." He continued down the line of friends, his mom laughing a little when he reached Brendon. "He doesn't even deny it! Today he said, 'We're summoning Satan! I'm kidding. I'm already here,'" Frank told her. She laughed a bit harder.

"Oh my gosh," Linda wheezed out, calming down. "These are friends of the father?" she asked, trying to clear it up. Frank nodded in response. "Wow. None of the church knew this," Linda muttered, looking down at her mug.

Frank nodded again. "He fooled all of us," he said, "And he looked damn good doing it."

Linda jerked her head over at that last part, "What was that?"

"Nothing," Frank said quickly. "Melanie and Patrick got together today!"

"Frank Iero what did you say?" Linda said, now focused on getting her son to repeat what he had said about Father Way.

"I didn't say–"

"Do you like the father?" Linda asked, raising her eyebrows. "Frankie..."

Frank groaned and hit his head against the island's countertop.


	9. Chapter Nine

Sunday morning, Gerard Way woke up early and drove to the church. He was still sad about what had happened with Frank the day before, but he could not focus on that right now. He had a sermon to prepare for.

He put his priest clothes on over a pair of skinny jeans and a T-shirt. As usual, after the sermon, he was going to run out to the group. Hayley's church would finish up a bit after that and she would join them.

He sat in his office, adding a few ideas to his sermon. Yesterday's events at Mandy's had given him ideas.

Patrick's family, with Melanie tagging along, soon arrived just as Gerard was finished going through and marking pages in his Bible. He stood from his desk and, with the Bible in hand, he went out and locked the office door. As families began gathering into the sanctuary, Gerard looked for one particular, small family: the Ieros. He stood by the door and kept looking around for the small, tattooed male and his mother, but the time for the sermon came around and there was no sign of either of them.

He sighed and went inside the sanctuary, going to preach the sermon.

•••

Frank and his mother were at home, the question about Father Way forgotten as of right now. Linda and Frank were having a mother-son bonding day. Linda had agreed that since Frank had been behaving better than before he started going back to church, he deserved a Sunday off from church. What she did not know was that Frank also wanted to not see Father Way for a while, to go over everything.

Linda and Frank were in Linda's car, Frank driving.

"Where to, Mom?" Frank asked, glancing at her.

"I was thinking we could stop at a coffee shop?" Linda suggested.

"Are you a mind-reader or something?" Frank joked, making a curve and driving toward town. Linda laughed and shook her head.

A few minutes later, Frank pulled up in the parking lot outside Starbucks. "Best coffee shop in the world, Mama," he smiled, shutting off the car and leaning back. Linda smiled as well, then got out of the car. Frank followed suit. The mother and son went inside the café.

Frank ordered for the both of them as his mother found somewhere for them to sit. After Frank got their drinks from the barista, he went and found Linda sitting at one of the high tables by the window. He rolled his eyes and had to reach up to place their drinks down.

"Is this a damned joke?" he asked, having to climb up onto the chair. He was too short for this.

"Watch your language, Frank," his mom scolded. Frank sighed, now seated.

Linda and Frank drank their coffees in silence, until Linda decided to bring up what had happened yesterday. "You never answered my question, honey," she stated. Frank nearly choked on his drink. He took a deep breath, regaining composure.

"I don't know what you're talking about, _mother_ ," he said, looking away from her.

"Frank Anthony Thomas Iero, Jr. You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about," Linda narrowed her eyes, "Now speak."

Frank sighed and looked down. "Maybe I kinda _do_ like Gerard Way?" he looked up after he spoke, looking over his mother's face. He was worried she would get mad.

"I knew it," was all Linda said, a smirk on her face. Frank was surprised.

"You're not mad? You're not going to kick me out of the house?" Frank asked, the shock evident in his voice.

"Why would I be mad, Frankie? I may force you to go to church, but I'm not going to force religion on you like _that_!" She sighed and smiled at the relieved look on her son's face, "I'm your mother. I will always accept you. And I am not going to throw my Bible at you." She reached across the table and took Frank's hands in her own.

"But... You insulted me that day we couldn't find Father Way. You dissed my tattoos," Frank said.

"I was only saying that because everyone else was listening."

"Oh... That was really shitty of you, mom."

"Shut up, Frank."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHARACTERS

Patrick sat in the circle of friends on the floor of his _new girlfriend_ 's (it felt nice for him to think and call _Melanie_ his _girlfriend_ ) apartment.

Everyone was worried. They had not seen nor heard from Frank in almost a week. He had not been to church, he had not shown up to any of the friends' homes for any meetups. Not since the events at Mandy's apartment.

Mandy sighed, sitting two places over from Patrick. "I feel like this is my fault," she admitted, "I shouldn't have suggested the game."

"No," Gerard said, "Its my fault for not coming clean about who I am."

Patrick shook his head and reached a sweater-paw up to adjust his glasses. "It's neither of your fault," he assured in a calming voice, the type of tone an older brother would use to calm down a frantic baby brother. Melanie nodded.

"Patty's right," she said, leaning against her new boyfriend (she liked how she could call him that now. _Boyfriend_ ).

Pete's eyes widened when he heard Melanie call his best friend "Patty", for Patrick never cared for that nickname. He did not even like "Pat."

Seeing his best friend's expression, Patrick smiled and took off his fedora (for once, which was a shock to everyone) and placed it on Melanie's head, "It sounds right coming from her."

"First Frank disappears, now Patrick is removing his life-force," Andy said, looking very worried, "What's happening?"

Suddenly, the door burst open and in strutted Brendon. "I tracked down the Hobbit!" he announced, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Hayley grinned at the hyperactive man/boy/thing and jumped up, "You did?" Brendon nodded and put his fists on his hips and puffed out his chest like a superhero. Hayley ran over and hugged him. "I'm so happy, babe!" she said.

Brendon hugged the girl back, "I'm glad I did something right for once."

"Babe?" Halsey asked, "When did this happen? When did my babies get together? Was Hayley consulted before the relationship began?"

"It happened a few days ago, Hayley was very much consulted," Brendon informed Halsey.

"Don't worry Ash, if he does anything I'll let you get first dibs on killing him," Hayley joked, and Halsey gave her a thumbs-up.

Patrick slowly stood and went up to Brendon. He poked at the much taller boy's chest and said, "Hayley is basically my little sister, okay? You break her heart like you did Ryan and Dallon's, I'll fuck you up. You hear?" Patrick adjusted his glasses again and went back to sit beside his girlfriend.

Brendon stood in shock staring at Patrick, the little angel who cried if he killed a fly.

"What the fuck was that?" Halsey asked, eyes wide.

"I wouldn't test him, Beebo. He's actually literally almost killed me before. It wasn't pretty," Pete said.

"Guys, can we come in now?" asked a voice from outside. It was a soft and tender, almost sad, young male's voice.

"Yeah," another, a bit deeper and less sad, voice agreed.

"WHAT'RE YOU LOOKIN' AT, BITCH?" a female's voice shouted.

"Brendon? Did you kidnap people?" Mandy asked, looking a little amused.

Brendon shook his head. "Actually, I made some friends," he explained. He pushed the door open more.

The others saw three people standing there: Two males and one female.

The female was tall with dyed blonde hair and brown roots. She had a hat on her head. As Patrick examined her from his spot on the floor, he noticed part of her left eyebrow was shaved. She had her hands on her hips and Patrick could see an arrow tattoo on one of her forearms.

Next, one of the males had a baseball cap on backwards and saw yellow hair sticking out from it. He had a red T-shirt on with an  alien on it and a phrase in curving letters saying "I DO BELIEVE". He had a colourful tattoo sleeve.

Finally, the second male had fluffy-looking brown hair and a scared look on his face. He was wearing a black hoodie so Patrick could not see if he had tattoos or not, except three black rings going around his left wrist.

"Who are these kids?" Gerard asked, looking at the two boys in the doorway who looked as though they were ready to carry each other off in a hurry if anything went wrong.

"Guys, this is Lynn, Josh, and Tyler! I met them while I was looking for our Hobbit!" Brendon explained, now sitting on the floor with Hayley beside him.

"Nice to meet you," Patrick said softly, smiling. Melanie simply grinned at the new kids, her gap showing.

"We promise not to use you guys for demon sacrifice," Halsey assured, "Satan's already here and we have a priest with us, so you're safe."

The three nodded and stepped into the room, and Lynn shut the door behind. "What's this I keep hearing about a Hobbit?" she asked.

"It's kind of a long story..." Mikey explained.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I freaking love writing Linda.

After the group finished catching up Lynn, Josh, and Tyler, Lynn nodded and thought things over for a second then grinned.

"Are we gonna be spies and follow him around?" she asked, her grin not once leaving her face.

"That's actually a good idea!" Pete said.

"When should we do it?" Hayley asked from in front of Brendon, who was playing with her recently-dyed purple-and-orange hair.

"How about now?" Ray suggested, looking to the others.

The group agreed and they all went out and got in their cars and drove off, following behind Brendon and Hayley in Hayley's car; Lynn, Josh, and Tyler were crammed in the back seat.

•••

Frank and his mother were walking out of a local shop (Linda needed to stop to pick up something) when Frank looked up and saw some familiar cars zoom past in a line.

"Oh my God," he said, watching the cars fly down the street.

Linda looked at her son with a confused expression, "What is it, Frankie? Do you recognize those cars?" She pointed in the direction of the TATA Manza, a '79 Trans Am, and a couple of other cars.

"Yeah. I do. It's the group," Frank replied. "What the hell are they doing here?"

"Do you wanna say hi or anything?" Linda asked, looking to her son. Frank sighed and shrugged.

"I guess," he said, then started in the direction of the trying-to-park vehicles.

•••

Brendon was attempting to park Hayley's car, having seen Frank and Linda exiting a store. He finally found a spot to park at and shut off the car. "I saw him let's–" he screamed when he saw a shadow loom in the passenger window and heard a smack against said window. Josh and Tyler, sitting in the back with Lynn, grabbed at each other, Josh muttering to Tyler that he would protect him.

Hayley sighed and rolled down the window. "Y'all are sissies," she said, accidentally slipping into a southern accent (she grew up in Tennessee) and then grinned at the person at the window.

It was Frank.

"Heeeeeey Fraaaankiiiie," Brendon said nervously.

"Are you following me?" Frank asked, frowning.

A car door shut and a voice spoke up: "Frankie!" Gerard called out. Frank sighed and turned to face the man.

Linda got tired of watching these young adults advance on each other and decided she would embarrass her son into admitting his feelings to Gerard. She is Frank's mother after all. She walked up to the cars and boys and girls and smiled sweetly.

"Frankie, honey, are these your little friends you were telling me about?" she asked, then pretended she was just acknowledging Gerard's presence, "Oh! Hello Father!"

Gerard's face flushed a little, "H- hello, Mrs. Iero."

Frank hissed at his mother, "What the shit, Mom?"

"Oh, I'm just saying hi, honey," Linda smiled.

"Frankie," Halsey got out of her car and smiled, "Is this your mother?"

"Hi! You must be Ashley," Linda said, walking over and shaking Halsey's hand.

"I am! But I go by Halsey," Halsey replied, shaking Linda's hand, "And you're Mrs. Iero!"

"Oh, please," Linda grinned and waved her hand dramatically, "Call me Linda."

Frank had not even noticed everyone else getting out of their cars until Melanie exclaimed.

"Frank! Your mom is adorable!"

Lynn looked over at Frank, who was looking embarrassed. She walked over and slung her arm over his shoulders. "Hey, buddy. I'm Lynn. I'm new to this friend group. Brendon kinda kidnapped me and those two over there," she nodded her head over to Josh and Tyler, who were still holding each other.

Frank snorted as his mom went over to Melanie and Patrick, congratulating them on starting a relationship. "I wish she'd stop trying to embarrass me," he admitted to Lynn, "We were supposed to bond—Hell, I came out to her!"

"Congrats on coming out of the closet," Lynn smiled, "Do you like anyone?"

"Maybe...I'm going to hell for this crush, too."

"Who is it? I'm sure you won't go to hell for it."

"Gerard," Frank looked over at the man, who was looking around awkwardly.

"Why're you going to hell for that?"

"He's the local priest."

"Oh," Lynn said, then patted Frank's back softly, "You're damned for sure."


	12. Chapter Twelve

Pete walked over to Gerard while Frank and Lynn exchanged some words and Linda obsessed over Patrick and Melanie.

"Hey, Gee. You okay?" Pete asked. He only received a shrug and a nod in response. He sighed and leaned against his friend's '79 Trans Am.

"How funny is it," Pete asked, pressing further to get a verbal response, "that out friends are all getting boyfriends and girlfriends? I mean, first Patrick and Melanie. Now Hayley and Satan."

Gerard managed a small smile, "Yeah." He looked toward Lynn and Frank, who were both smiling now. "Makes you wonder if you will ever get into a relationship."

"Father?" Linda was now standing in front of Pete and Gerard.

"Shit, Gee! Do I have to call you Father?" Pete asked jokingly.

Gerard shoved Pete, "Fuck off, Wentz." Then he looked down at a shocked-looking Linda, him looking down due to her being shorter than him. Just like her son. "Mrs. Iero, you don't have to call me Father outside of the church," he told her, "Call me Gerard."

"Are you sure?" Linda asked. Gerard nodded. Linda took a deep breath. "Fath– Gerard, my son and I were talking today. He came out to me as gay. And he told me who his feelings are for."

Pete heard this and snickered. He nudged Gerard with his elbow and said, "Looks like you might actually have a—" Gerard cut him off by putting his hands over Pete's mouth. He grinned nervously at a now confused Linda.

"That's– That's nice, ma'am," he said.

Linda seemed to be thinking over Pete's cut-off sentence, then a smile spread across her face. "I see, now," she said. She turned around and called out, "Who wants to eat? I want to get to know my son's new family!"

"Awh!" Brendon said, now out of Hayley's car. He was grinning, looking like he was about to burst into happy-tears.

"We'll go to my house and I'll cook for all of you," Linda continued.

Frank began to protest, but his mother shushed him.

•••

The group was soon at the Iero household. Linda has ushered everyone in and told them to make themselves at home while she fixed lunch. Most of the group was looking around the living room, this being their first time in the house. Hayley and Brendon were, really, the only ones who had ever been in the house. The people in the group who were not in the living room — Patrick, Melanie, Hayley, Halsey, and Andy — were in the kitchen talking with Linda.

"So, Melanie," Linda began as she put some food on a platter, "Frankie tells me you...behead stuffed bears?"

Melanie blushed a little and nodded. Patrick smiled a little at his girlfriend.

"Melanie was upset and kind of likes to take her anger out on stuffed animals," Patrick explained to Linda, "It was before Halsey found her and took her under her wing."

"Halsey's basically our mama!" Melanie exclaimed, grinning a little.

"That is true, actually," said Hayley as she snatched food from Andy, who had attempted to steal some.

"Hey!" Andy whined, "I was gonna eat that!"

"Save if for when we're done," Hayley told him.

Andy pouted, "Fine." He hopped down off the counter and stretched his back and arms.

Then, suddenly, Brendon burst into the kitchen with a picture frame in his hands. "Linda! Is this Frank?" he asked, quite loudly.

Linda turned around, confused, until she saw the frame in the boy's hands. "Let me see," she said. Brendon walked over and held out the photograph. Linda looked at it and saw her son in high school, in all his dreadlocks-glory. "Yes, that's Frankie. Back when he had dreadlocks."

"That is hilari–" Brendon started, but got cut off by his girlfriend punching his shoulder, "OW! Hayley, what was that for?"

"For laughing at high-school-Frank," Hayley said, "Don't make me show everyone pictures of you from high school!"

Brendon gasped dramatically. "You _wouldn't_."

Hayley raised her eyebrows, "I _would_."

"You _monster_!"


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Linda laughed as she watched and listened to her son's new family. 

She had to admit to herself, they all seemed like nice people. Though they were bickering a lot. But at least they were helpful, helping her prepare their lunch and keeping Andy from stealing it all.

When she first saw them when they were following her son, however, she did not know how she felt about them. It was because of their tattoos. Yes she did diss her sons tattoos and then apologize for it, but it was seeing almost all of his new friends with their tattoos and not getting clear views of them that really bothered her. 

What if they were bad tattoos, tattoos with bad meanings or imagery or sayings?

She wanted to ask them about them all, but she did not want to sound rude.

She did not know she was staring at Halsey's upside down horseshoe tattoo until the girl cleared her throat, causing Linda to look up.

"What's wrong, Linda?" Halsey asked, "You're staring."

Linda stammered for a few awkward seconds before finally managing out, "Nothing. I was just, ah... looking at your tattoos."

"Oh," Halsey nodded.

"The horseshoe one...is there a special meaning behind it? Aren't horseshoes supposed to be facing upward for good luck?" Linda asked.

"Well," Halsey began, "I wanted it upside down, to show that I don't need luck; I'm a big girl!"

"And that you are," Linda smiled, actually liking the tattoo's meaning. "What about that match on the side of your arm?"

Halsey attempted to look at the tattoo. "Some younger friends of mine wanted me to go with them for their first tattoo, so we all got matching matches." She smiled fondly at the memory.

"And that '17' on your fingers?" Linda asked, really enjoying getting to know these stories and meanings.

"It's my lucky number," Halsey grinned, "I could tell you meanings and stories for hours, but I think everyone's getting hungry."

"You're right," Linda agreed. Together, she and Halsey carried platters to the dining room and placed them on the table. Melanie joined in to help.

•••

Soon they were all gathered at the table — Linda had made Frank bring chairs and stools in from the living room and kitchen — eating a wonderful meal prepared by Linda. No one was saying anything, just eating. It was too quiet for Linda, sitting at this table with her son's new friends. So she decided to do what any mother would do: Get to know them.

"So, tell me about this little friend group of yours," she said.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Frank whispered urgently to her.

"Shut up, Frank," she said, hitting her son's arm.

"What would you like to know, Linda?" Halsey asked after swallowing a bite of food.

"I don't know. I just want to know who my little Frankie is spending all of his time with," Linda admitted.

"Well...Hayley goes to church whenever she can," Gerard spoke up.

"Does she?" asked Linda, turning to the purple-and-orange haired girl, "I've never seen you."

"That's because I'm not Catholic. I'm something else," Hayley replied, covering her mouth as she swallowed her food. 

"What denomination are you then?" Linda asked. Hayley looked deep in thought.

"Shoot. I've been going to the same church since I was little, and I can't remember," Hayley muttered.

"It's a Baptist church, Hayley," Gerard informed.

Hayley snapped her fingers and pointed her fork at Gerard, eyes wide and a smile on her face. "That's it!" she said.

Brendon spoke up from the seat beside her: "I'm from a Mormon family!"

"Are you, now," Linda asked, looking both amused and confused. "Where'd the whole you-being-Satan thing come from then?"

"He kind of left the Mormon lifestyle and is now Atheist," Gerard explained, "Doesn't really answer the question though, does it? Well, one Halloween a few years ago he decided to dress as a demon– horns, creepy contacts, ripped jeans, body-paint, wings and everything. He couldn't take the horns off for the longest time because he used heavy-duty glue, and he started saying he was actually a demon and we all joked he was Satan inhabiting the body of a young man, so the nickname kinda stuck."

"That is...interesting," Linda said, looking a little stunned. She looked at Brendon once more.

"It was fun," the boy sighed, "But the horns made it uncomfortable to sleep and shower and drive."

"Drive?" Patrick asked from the opposite end of the table.

"Yeah! People got distracted and cops pulled me over!"

"Oh..." Patrick said softly, then adjusted his glasses.

Linda smiled and folded her hands on the table in front of her plate. "What I like about this friend group is how you're all different, and you accept each other for it," she said, "The world could learn a thing or two from you."

"Thank you, ma'am," Andy said, mouth full of food. 

"Andy, honey. Swallow your food before you speak," Halsey said, pointing her fork at the boy. Andy mumbled an apology.

Linda chuckled, "Looks like you've got them all whipped up, Halsey."

"It's my job, Linda," Halsey said dramatically, "I'm their mama."

"So Melanie tells me."

Halsey smiled and looked toward a grinning Melanie.

"Mrs. Iero– I mean...Linda..." Ray said, "What do you mean by were all different?"

"Your styles and personalities." Linda explained.

"Ah."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

A few more months passed; the group continued to visit the Iero household more often than they spent time at their own houses or Mandy's living room.

It was currently October – October 31st, by the way – and Frank was asleep, comfy in his bed. 

Halsey had developed the role of awakening Frank, since she was the mom-friend. And here she was, standing over Frank's bed, shaking him lightly. "Frankie," she sang softly, "Time to wake up."

Frank groaned and batted at her hand. "No," he whined, "I don't wanna get up."

"You have to get up," Halsey said. 

"No."

They went back and forth like this for a few more minutes before she had had enough.

"Get out of bed," she demanded.

"NO!" Frank argued.

"Why do you always fight me like this whenever I wake you up?" Halsey asked.

"BECAUSE YOU NEVER LEARN!"

"Get your ass out of bed, birthday boy." She yanked the sheets off of his body and pulled on his arm.

Frank reluctantly got up and rubbed his eyes with his fists. "Did you call me 'birthday boy'?" he asked.

"Yeah, dumbass. It's your birthday," Halsey said.

"It's not my birthday."

"It's definitely your birthday. October 31st. Halloween day."

"Give me a calendar. It's not and I will prove it to–" he got a reminder on his phone, the reminder chime going off. He looked at the reminder and then at Halsey. "Oh. Never mind. Happy birthday to me."

"HA! I told you!" Halsey bragged. "Get dressed! Put on your costume! Meet us downstairs, okay? In...ten minutes. That gives you enough time to get dressed."

"Okay mom," Frank said sarcastically. Halsey left the room and shut the door.

Frank sighed and went over to his closet where his costumes and hoodies and church clothes were. He opened the closet door and dug around inside before finding his costume.

***

Everyone was downstairs in the living room, a stack of waffles on a plate on the coffee table. All but Halsey were in costumes.

Melanie was dressed as a doll, the joints painted on with body paint and her hair was now magenta and very dark brown. Patrick was supposed to be a possessed killer, fake blood was splattered all over him, bright yellow contacts were put in place of his glasses, he had a fake hook on his hand, and his fedora was missing. Pete was dressed up as an anime character with a giant Toblerone candy bar. Mikey was Jason Voorhees, mask and all. Andy was dressed as Batman without the mask. Gerard was dressed as a cross between a school marching band member and a bandit. Hayley was dressed as a zombie or Frankenstein monster with demon eyes. Brendon was a freakily realistic skeleton. Tyler and Josh were wearing corresponding costumes of some characters they had made up: They were both wearing red and black, and Tyler had black body paint smeared all over his neck and hands while Josh had smeared bright red eyeshadow around his eyes. Lynn was a vampire. The group was going to meet up with Mandy and her band later at a restaurant they were going to be performing at. Halsey was in the bathroom now, putting on her costume. Ray was not in a costume. She was The Bride from Kill Bill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halsey ran back to the living room just as Frank came down. He seemed to be dressed normally, save for the Frankenstein's monster mask on his head.

 

Linda, standing in the middle of the group, beamed and announced, "Happy birthday, my little baby boy!"

"Mom," Frank whined, "Oh my God."

Linda ignored his whining and motioned toward the coffee table. "I made you special birthday waffles and coffee. Eat quickly so you can all go do whatever it is you do everyday. I'll meet you all at the restaurant at eight o'clock," she said. Frank nodded and went over to the couch and sat down. He started to eat the waffles.

***

The group was now walking down the sidewalk, heading toward no specific destination. 

"Where are we going to go?" Frank asked, hoping the others had come up with someplace for them to go to.

"I dunno. I'm just following Halsey," Pete replied, opening one side of his giant Toblerone and pulling out a regular-sized candy bar.

"I'm thinking," Halsey shouted at Pete. Pete silenced himself, save for the soft chewing of his Toblerone bars. 

"Oh! Pete, Hayley, Melanie! Come with me to check on Mandy and her band. Patrick, Brendon, Frank...go do whatever. The rest of you, go get candy," Halsey commanded, "We'll all meet up at the park at seven o'clock then all go to the restaurant."

"Okay, mama!" Melanie smiled.

"Aye aye, Ash," Brendon said, saluting sloppily.

"See you there," Mikey and Ray said in unison.

With that, everyone went in the groups in separate directions.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask or get confused, Alexis is a friend of mine

Brendon turned to Frank and Patrick. He had a mischievous grin on his face. "Wanna summon the Devil?"

And this was how the three were at Walmart going through the aisles for a cauldron.

"This was not how I expected I'd be spending my birthday: Going through Walmart trying to find a cauldron to summon the Goddamned Devil," Frank said, running his hand down a row of plastic Trick or Treat pumpkin bins.

"I can understand that," Patrick said from down the aisle. In his hands was the box for a Spirit Board. "Couldn't we just use this instead of making a potion and pentagram?" he asked, looking at Frank and Brendon.

"We could, but where's the fun in that?" Brendon replied, tossing a small plastic cauldron over his shoulder, hitting a display skeleton. He took off running in the direction of cooking supplies.

Frank rolled his eyes and crouched down on his knees to look on one of the lower shelves lined with bigger cauldrons. He tapped one with his finger and grinned. "Hey, Patrick! I found some!"

"Holy smokes! You did?" Patrick exclaimed. He looked over to see Frank struggling to get a cauldron off the shelf. He placed the pirates hook he had been looking at back on the shelf and hurried over. He got on his knees and pulled on one of the handles of the big pot. With a huff and a heave, the boys pulled it off the shelf and sent it crashing on its side onto the floor and the boys fell onto their backs, Frank's sunglasses fell from atop his head.

"Oh God, that must've hurt."

Patrick and Frank looked up to see Brendon standing there with a giant wooden spoon poking out of the green shopping basket in his hand. He saw the cauldron and let out a squeal. "You found one!" he exclaimed. He then remembered his friends were sprawled on the floor, and held out a hand to Frank, helping him up first, then helped Patrick.

"I got some of the ingredients!" Brendon announced. He looked into the basket and started listing off everything he had: "Cinnamon, peppers, red glitter, gasoline, matches, bat wings – I cold only find plastic ones, so I hope it works – and cat fur."

"Cinnamon, peppers, red glitter, and cat fur?" Patrick repeated.

"I get it," Frank said with a smirk, "Cinnamon sounds like 'sin', peppers – those look like ghost peppers – taste like Hell in your mouth, red glitter for the flames of Hell, and cat fur because we all know cats are spawns of Hell demons."

"Not all cats–" Patrick started, but got cut off.

"Cats are descended from demons and that's final!" Brendon shrieked at Patrick.

"How the hell did you get cat fur?" Frank asked, reaching into the basket and taking out the swath of black fur.

"This is Walmart," Brendon reminded. "They have every-fucking-thing."

Patrick nodded and picked up Frank's sunglasses. "Is that everything we need?" he asked, handing Frank his glasses.

"We need just a few more things," Brendon answered and pulled a crumpled paper out from his jeans pocket.

"And what would that be?" Frank asked, hooking his glasses on the collar of his shirt.

"I'm going to need chicken blood, salt, five candles, and a bottle of vodka."

"Vodka?" Patrick asked.

"For the potion?" Frank asked.

"Nah. That's just to make me feel better about ripping a hole in the universe," Brendon said.

"Wait– WHAT?" Frank and Patrick panicked.

"Calm down," Brendon said, "There's only a 95% chance of it happening."

"Brendon, that's a fucking big possibility," Frank said, eyes wide.

"Come on Frankie," Brendon whined, pouting, "You promised!"

Frank looked at Patrick then back to Brendon, then sighed. "Fine! Come on, Patrick. Let's go." He grabbed the sleeve of Patrick's leather jacket.

As they were walking, Patrick kept getting distracted.

"Oooo," he ogled at multiple things on shelves and on display.

"Patrick," Frank kept scolding. Every time Patrick would stop, look down, mumble a "Sorry" and continue following his friend. Frank looked around at the shelves, looking for any of the ingredients Brendon had listed. Patrick found some salt – a lot of salt, actually– lined up beside containers and shakers and grinders of pepper.

"I found the salt! But...there's a lot here," he said, looking at Frank. "Did he specify what kind?"

"No," Frank replied. "Which do you think would work best with the potion: Rock salt" – he held up a bag of pure rock salt, then a shaker of table salt – "or table salt?"

Patrick looked like he was about to panic, "I- I- I don't know! I've never summoned the Devil before!"

"Well think, you smart little man!"

"Shut up and let me think back to all those episodes I watched of Supernatural!"

"Think harder!"

"SHUT UP!" Frank silenced himself and Patrick thought hard. "Rock salt. It's purer than table salt."

"We'll get both anyway," said Frank. With that, the boys walked off to try and find the rest of the ingredients.

***

Frank and Patrick went toward the checkouts to meet up with Brendon. The hyperactive boy was standing by the registers, looking through the racks of candy and bouncing on the balls of his feet. In his basket, there were bags and bags of candies: Sour Patch Kids, M&Ms, Skittles, Juicy Drop Pops. Frank and Patrick approached him and Frank looked in the basket.

"You're forgetting something," he said.

Brendon panicked and stuffed his face in the basket. "What am I missing?" he shrieked.

Frank removed a package of Twizzlers from a rack. "These. They're my favourites." Brendon looked at him and took the sweets from him.

"Did you get everything I asked?" Brendon asked with a serious expression.

"Everything but the chicken blood," Patrick replied apologetically.

"And why didn't you get me the blood?"

"They don't sell it here," Frank replied.

"Well shit," Brendon cursed.

There was suddenly a crash and the sound of glass or porcelain shattering. That section of the store went silent. The boys ran toward the sound and there was a girl standing there in front of a collapsed shelf of now-shattered porcelain piggybanks.

"Oh my gosh. What have I done?" the girl whispered in horror.

"Honey, you just maxed out your parents bank accounts," Brendon said.

The girl gasped and put her hands over her mouth, "I'm a monster!"

Brendon rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "Oh, please, your a fifteen-year-old kid. Cut the angst," he said, then dramatically turned around and headed back toward the checkout. Frank and Patrick exchanged a look before bending down to help the girl clean up the mess she had made.

"Oh my gosh, my parents will kill me!" the girl was saying.

"Calm down. Calm down!" Patrick was saying to her.

"If we clean this up fast enough and get you out of here before the employees arrive, you'll be okay. You won't have to pay for anything," Frank pointed out.

"Thanks for that advice," the girl said. They heard a staticky voice, most likely from a walkie-talkie, getting louder.

"Shit!" Frank shouted. He helped the girl and Patrick to their feet then grabbed their arms and pulled them behind him as he hurried off, dragging them behind.

Once they were in the frozen foods section, they stopped running. They stood, breathing heavily. "Oh my God," the girl breathed.

"That was close," Frank said.

"They're gonna find us!" Patrick was panicking. "This is worse than the time I was arrested for driving without a license!"

The girl gave Patrick an odd look. "Is that the worst you've done?" she asked. Patrick nodded. "Then you'll get off easy," she said, "Plus, it wasn't even you who broke the shelf."

"That's true," Frank said.

"There you all are!" said a voice from the end of the aisle. The three turned to see Brendon with four bags in his hands. "The hell are you doing in this section anyway? Are you gonna buy Eggos?"

"No," Frank said.

"I want Eggos..." Patrick mumbled.

"We were running away from security with our new friend..." Frank trailed off and waved his hand at the girl. "I didn't get your name," he told her.

"It's Alexis," the girl replied.

"Our new friend Alexis," Frank said.

"Oh! You're the chick that broke a shelf and is now costing her parents a few gazillion bucks!" Brendon gasped.

"Yes, I am," Alexis said. "And you're the guy who called me a fifteen-year-old child."

"You look fifteen."

"I'm not fifteen. I'm seventeen," she said to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There's no way you're–"

"Shut up Brendon. We've gotta go find you chicken blood," Patrick said.

"Why do you need chicken blood?" Alexis asked, looking both curious and terrified.

"We're summoning the Devil," Brendon said with a grin.

"Oh...Are your costumes for that too?" Alexis asked, "Or are you planning on Trick or Treating?"

"Neither. It's Frank's birthday and we're celebrating it with costumes and food," Patrick said with a smile.

"You're a Halloween baby?" Alexis asked Frank, looking surprised now.

"Yeah," Frank replied, looking a little embarrassed.

"That's awesome!"

The group talked for a few more minutes before Alexis had to go find her parents and the boys had to leave to find chicken blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long 'ne. I hope you enjoyed!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Andy, Gerard, Mikey, and Ray hurried into one of the few opened sweet shops. Gerard stopped the other three right inside the door. 

"Do you all have money?" he asked. The boys nodded. "Are any of you lying?" Gerard continued. Only Andy nodded this time. Gerard sighed. "I'll pay for most of it," he said. "Now go! We need a lot of candy!" 

The four hurried off through the aisles. There was suddenly the sound of Ray's voice from one of the aisles: "Does anyone know Frank's favourite candy? We need to get lots of it!"

Andy slowly turned a corner, arms full of candy packages. "Uuhhh...I've seen him eat a lot of Skittles sometimes," he said.

"Dude, it's gotta be Hershey's chocolate," Mikey shouted over one of the aisles.

Gerard shook his head and moved some hair out of his eyes. "He can't eat milk chocolate. He can only eat the 'made from pure cocoa bean' shit," he said loudly to the other three, "And his favourite candy is Twizzlers, I think. He eats it the most."

Mikey poked his head around one of the corners of Gerard's aisle and Andy and Ray poked their heads around the other side.

"Big bro," Mikey said in shock. "You're like a Frank Iero dictionary."

Gerard looked up and toward his brother. "Am not," he refused.

"Are too!" Andy said. Ray nodded his agreement.

"In what way am I a Frank Iero dictionary?" Gerard scoffed, taking a few packets of Twizzlers off a shelf.

"You know what if favourite candy is. And you know he can't stomach milk chocolate," Mikey replied.

"That's just stuff friends would know!"

"Oh shut up." Mikey looked to his watch. "Guys, we've got under two hours left. Let's hurry and start toward the park."

The boys grabbed a few more bags of candy and headed to the counter. The door's bell chimed as a couple walked in. Gerard dropped the candy in his arms on the counter and began helping his brother and Ray and Andy with theirs. The cashier looked at the pile and raised an eyebrow. 

"Last minute Halloween candy rush?" he asked.

"Friend's birthday is today," Andy replied.

"Do you boys really need all this candy?" the cashier continued.

"Do you really need to ask?" Mikey asked in response.

The cashier shrugged and started ringing everything up. 

The couple from earlier slowly approached the group. 

"Father Way?" the woman asked slowly. Gerard froze, then slowly turned around.

"Hi, Helen..." Gerard said, then nodded at the woman's husband, "Tommy."

"What are you doing here? And in a bandit's outfit?" Helen asked with utter horror expelled on her face.

"We're celebrating a friend's birthday, which happens to be today."

"Father, Halloween is the Devil's birthday. You're not friends with the Devil, are you?" Tommy asked.

"No! Of course not," Gerard said.

"But what about Brendon?" Mikey smirked.

Gerard turned to his brother, "Brendon being Satan is just an ongoing joke, remember?"

The more the boys talked, the more horrified Helen and Tommy Oscar looked. Gerard seemed to notice and quickly said: "Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar. They're just joking around."

"They better be! Your boss will not be happy to hear about this!" Helen said. 

The couple hurried off and the boys got their bags and left, heading to the park.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Halsey led the group with her to the restaurant. There was just a few more hours left before the two other groups were to arrive. They arrived and heard soft music playing from the inside of the restaurant. Halsey opened the door and held it open as everyone else went inside.

The waiter at the front counter looked up and rolled his eyes. "We don't have any candy, kids. Go somewhere else."

Halsey rolled her eyes. "Shut up Jack," she said.

The waiter, Jack, smiled. "Halsey, how's it going?" he asked.

"It's going okay so far," Halsey replied, "Is Alex here?"

Jack's face seemed to fall and he now looked sad. "No," he said, "It's his day off." 

"Sucks." Halsey looked toward the small stage where a band was playing some classical music. "Is Mandy and her band here yet?"

"Yep," Jack replied.

Lynn jumped forward to stand beside Halsey. "Where are they?" she asked, her fake fangs showing as she spoke.

Jack smiled at her, "They're back stage tuning everything. I can take you to them...if you want." 

"We'd like that," Melanie said from behind Lynn and Halsey. Pete was looking around at the weird-looking artwork on the wall. 

He nudged Josh and asked: "Is that supposed to be a dick or a horse? I can't tell..." Josh gave him a weird look.

"Come on, follow me," Jack said, now out from behind the counter. The group started to follow, leaving Pete behind to look at the dick-horse painting. When Pete realized everyone was leaving, he ran after them, holding his giant Toblerone bar over his head.

"Guys! Wait up!" he yelled. He caught up with them just as Jack opened a door that led "backstage." 

"Tadaaa!" Jack sang. Inside, some sour notes and pretty notes from guitars and a keyboard were heard. "Welcome to the wonderful world of 'backstage.'"

"It's gr–" Melanie started, but got cut off:

"GUYS! YOU'RE HERE!" Mandy ran up to the group. She and her band were not yet in costume. She hugged Halsey tightly. She then pulled back and gave the group a confused look. "You're a few hours early..."

"We came early," Lynn said, "to check up on you."

"And to make sure you're all ready," Hayley added.

"That's so sweet!" Mandy smiled, blushing a little.

"Why aren't you in your costume?" Melanie asked.

"We're waiting until tonight," Mandy's boyfriend and band's drummer, Etienne Bowler, said, coming up behind Mandy.

"That's cool! What are you going to be?" Josh asked.

"The Spice Girls." Mandy said this casually.

Pete could not stop himself from laughing. "The- The Spice Girls?" he asked between wheezes and laughs.

"Yeah! You have a problem with them?" Mandy asked, a look of seriousness now very vivid on her face. Pete instantly stopped laughing and shook his head quickly, muttering a "sorry, no ma'am." Mandy smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Good," she said.

"Mind if we stay and watch you practice for an hour or two?" Tyler asked.

"We don't mind at all!" Mandy and Etienne said in unison.


End file.
